Oh No, My Tail Has Been Seen! - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Taking You Out to Dinner

I was just secretly watching Bai Jin a moment ago, how did I fall asleep?

Su Miao felt a bit annoyed. Now that Bai Jin had seen her fall asleep while reading the script, she might leave a bad, unprofessional impression in her mind.

This time, she didn’t dare to glance around casually anymore. She seriously read the script over and over, committing every scene, action, and line to memory.

This seven-day variety show was gradually coming to an end. In fact, ever since Bai Jin arrived, she had been slowly guiding Su Miao to focus back on acting.

On the second morning, Su Miao took Bai Jin back to her room.

“When you have free time, you can watch some films and TV series. Analyze the actors’ expressions and movements from an actor’s perspective and what kind of emotions they need to convey. These are things every acting teacher should have taught you,” Bai Jin said, sitting beside Su Miao. Seeing her still looking at the script, she couldn’t help but remind her, “Even if you’re great at memorizing lines, acting isn’t just about the words. Emotions also need to be practiced.”

Su Miao looked at her. Every teacher before had mentioned this point.

When she was a student, her grades were not bad. She was often called on stage by teachers to perform as an outstanding student for others.

But for some reason, in Bai Jin’s eyes, she seemed to be falling short.

“Then can I try a scene with you?” Su Miao turned to face Bai Jin directly and handed her the script. “You can play the female lead, Chen Xingxing, and I’ll be your colleague who constantly makes things difficult for you at work.”

“Okay,” Bai Jin took the script and looked at the first scene.

This was the first time the female lead appeared. To highlight how she was bullied at work, Su Miao’s character kept making her do this and that.

About ten minutes later, Bai Jin closed the script. “That’s enough.”

So fast? There were quite a few lines in the beginning.

But when she met Bai Jin’s unquestionable gaze, she swallowed her shock.

After all, Bai Jin had said that managers also undergo professional training. What if memorizing lines was also part of their exams?

“What are you still doing at your desk? Didn’t I say we haven’t hired a receptionist yet, and you should go and cover the front desk for now?” Su Miao stood by Bai Jin’s side, glancing at her disdainfully. She casually tossed a document on her desk. “Here, this document needs to be photocopied three times, then taken to the finance department for a stamp.”

“But this isn’t my job…” Bai Jin’s voice grew softer and softer, sounding hesitant and wronged. But as a new employee, she had no choice but to follow the senior employee’s instructions. She couldn’t refuse. “Okay, I’ll go make the copies for you and then go to the front desk.”

Bai Jin took the stack of documents to the copier. When she was done and returned to the office, she saw Su Miao again. When she handed the documents over, another problem came up.

“Wait, I think I filled in the wrong contract date,” Su Miao stopped her and carefully read through the entire contract. “Wait a moment. I’ll modify the original draft and send it directly to you to print.”

“But it’s working hours now. The company’s front desk can’t be left unattended,” Bai Jin frowned, constantly looking toward the door, afraid that a visitor would arrive and she wouldn’t be there to register them.

Su Miao frowned in displeasure and said impatiently, “It’s fine, just get this done for me first and then go to the front desk.” With that, she sent the revised document to Bai Jin’s WeChat. “I’ve sent it to you. Go print it now.”

“Okay.” Bai Jin did as she was told, printing the document and taking it to be signed. But when she turned around, she saw the boss had appeared at the front desk.

“Alright, stop.” After they finished, Su Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Jin’s normally aloof face had suddenly become pitifully charming, which made her a little uncomfortable. In addition, her speaking habits had changed.

Instead of being cold and detached, she was gentle and soft-spoken.

“How did it feel?” Bai Jin handed the script, which she had used as a prop, back to Su Miao.

Su Miao carefully replayed the scene in her mind. Her lines were a bit jerky. When acting, she was always habitually looking at Bai Jin’s lips, eager to respond, but that made it feel stiff.

Bai Jin was a manager who had trained a White Magnolia Award-winning actress. Her standards for her artists would undoubtedly be very high, and her performance was something she herself couldn’t even pass.

She shook her head, a hint of dejection in her voice. “I’m not very satisfied. The lines were short, but I still couldn’t say them smoothly, and I was even a little distracted. Also, my emotions weren’t quite right.”

After hearing her words, Bai Jin pondered for a long time before speaking. “It’s not just that. I gave you the script so early and let you figure it out on your own for a reason. It’s not just about memorizing the lines—that’s the most basic thing. My requirement for you is to accurately interpret this character.”

“When you refused me and continued to get me to do things for you, there was only one emotion: selfishness. You completely failed to consider that if our boss found out, we would both be scolded. So, when I said I wanted to go back, you should have been hesitant, but then you still decided to take advantage of the situation and let me continue to do your work.”

“Your character isn’t a one-dimensional villain. She’s complex; she thinks for herself. But just now, I didn’t see you thinking. You simply acted based on what the script said. In that regard, you’re no different from other extras. You’re just an extra with more scenes.”

Su Miao’s heart trembled at her words. She had always been an honor student and had never been spoken to like this before.

She also never expected that the first person to tell her that her acting was bad and that she didn’t understand her character would be Bai Jin.

Right. For the past few days, she had been studying the script by memorizing lines. But now, not only had she not memorized the lines well, she hadn’t understood the character either.

Su Miao immediately lowered her head, but she didn’t cry. Bai Jin hadn’t scolded her; she had only pointed out her problems.

She pursed her lips tightly, like a child who had made a mistake, and nodded. “I’ll correct it.”

“I don’t want you to just say you’ll correct it. Starting now, I want you to re-read this script and think about what kind of person she is. You need to first empathize with the character before you can play her well,” Bai Jin said to her very seriously.

Su Miao, who looked like a child admitting her mistake, made Bai Jin frown slightly. She raised her arm but quickly lowered it again, ultimately doing nothing as she turned and left the room.

After Bai Jin left, Su Miao finally couldn’t hold back her tears. At first, the tears fell on the script, but she immediately moved it away, afraid of staining it, and buried her head, sobbing.

After crying for a while, she finally stopped.

Su Miao took a pencil from her drawer, sat up straight at the desk, and began to write and draw on the script.

The printed script, which had been blank, was soon filled with her analysis.

She wrote down the motivation for every single line.

Then, she re-read the script, looking not only at her own lines but also at those of the other characters several times.

She needed to know the other person’s emotions in advance so she could react appropriately.

By the time she finished, it was already evening. It was only after she reached the last page of the script that she looked up and out the window. The sky had already grown dark, with stars hanging in the distance.

They’re so beautiful.

Su Miao smiled at the stars.

What she didn’t know was that in the same direction, separated by just a wall, Bai Jin had also just closed her laptop and was looking up at the same sky.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Su Miao looked at the caller ID; it was Bai Jin. She immediately answered.

“I just finished analyzing the script.” Su Miao was about to report everything she had just done, but Bai Jin interrupted her first.

“Mm, it’s getting late. Let’s go eat first.”

The sound of a door opening came from the other end of the line.

“Come out.”

Was she going out so soon? She was a little unsure how to face her.

She had thought she would have a whole day to process everything.

That morning, she felt a sense of guilt. Bai Jin had chosen her, but she couldn’t deliver a satisfactory performance.

Seeing that she was still hesitant, another sentence came through the phone.

“I’ll take you out to dinner.”

This sentence was much softer, sounding a bit like coaxing a child.

Su Miao wasn’t the type to refuse a kind offer. She immediately walked quickly to the door and opened it.

Bai Jin was wearing a loose-fitting shirt and wide-legged jeans, looking very casual.

Su Miao looked left and right. Before, a camera crew would be waiting outside the door, but today, there was no one. Was it because it was too late?

She checked the time; it was only nine o’clock, not that late.

“Don’t look. I told them not to film for now. I’m taking you out to eat,” Bai Jin said, her gaze suddenly falling on Xu Qingqing, who was walking down the hallway. “Everyone’s here. Let’s go.”

“Huh?” Su Miao still didn’t understand what was happening, but Bai Jin had already started walking, so she had no choice but to follow.

This time, they didn’t have a driver. Bai Jin was in the driver’s seat.

The three of them drove out together.

“Will the production crew be okay with us just leaving?” Su Miao was a little worried. What if they were accused of acting like divas or sneaking away?

After what happened with Bai Jin and An Yixin, she knew how good the media was at jumping to conclusions.

“No, we have a reason to go out,” Bai Jin said. She drove them to the nearest hot pot restaurant, where the three of them had a private room.

After sitting down, Su Miao felt a bit lost. Her mind was racing.

Could they really just be going out to eat?

“Sister Su Miao, is something wrong? Why are you frowning all the time?” Xu Qingqing looked at Su Miao with concern and then secretly glance at Bai Jin. Logically, Bai Jin’s observational skills were better than her own, so she should have noticed earlier, yet she didn’t ask anything.

In her impression, Bai Jin was usually a cold person, but in reality, she was very caring toward her artists and was particularly protective of them.

“I’m fine.” She just didn’t know how to face Bai Jin.